To Melt the Ice
by DyingFlames
Summary: Aden has everything going his way. Then tragedy strikes and Aden is left a widower and with only his horse and his royal status. Can a new character in the picture help him melt the block of ice in his heart?Please R&R.Chapter3 up, sorry it took so longn
1. Prologue

Note: you know, every time I start a story, I can't seem to finish. On this one I am going to try REALLY hard to finish though. I had a Harry Potter story, but I got bored with it and therefore, took it off the internet. PS I am really bad at picking genres and ratings so please bear with me  
  
Disclaimer- Ella Enchanted doesn't belong to me, no matter how much I want it. Oh, and I DID NOT take the name Aden from Rianna on the Run by Alqualyne. It's just the first name that came to mind.  
  
To Melt the Ice  
  
Prologue  
  
Aden, son of King Charmont and Queen Ella of the land Kyrria, stirred. At 19 years old he was a naturally light sleeper. His young wife of three days lay beside him in the cool forest. The air around him smelled of smoke, and something bright and crackling was forcing him to open his eyelids. As his eyes slid open, alarm spread through his body. The thunderstorm that had been pounding insistently on their tent had set the woods on fire. Not caring for anything but the life beside him, Aden picked up his wife with ease and fled the tent, frantically searching for his horse Eli.  
  
"Eli! Eli!" he yelled over the roaring flames, not questioning the way the 18 year old in his arms still lay limp. Or the way his tunic was now stained red. He heard the faint whinny of a horse and ran towards it. Aden leaped onto Eli's back and rode at top speed out of the forest.  
  
He came to a clearing about a mile or two away from the fire. Only now did he stop to let his horse stop for a sip of water from a nearby stream. Aden jumped of his horse and turned to lift off Lena when she simply fell off the horse like a rag doll. His throat constricted and he dropped to his knees beside the crumpled form of his wife. He checked her brachial pulse, positive that she had simply fainted, that she would wake up and at any moment cheerily say, "I should be more careful next time!" The girl's skin was cold and clammy. There was no sign of life anywhere in her body.  
  
Aden carefully unfolded her body from its crumpled position. On her stomach, her clothes were torn and red. Still positive this was simply a dream, not real life, the prince cut away part of his wife's nightgown. There was the mark of a blade across the woman's stomach, deep, and fatal.  
  
The impact of the realization that his wife was dead sent Aden into a confused rage. He stood up in disbelief and ran backwards into a tree. He screamed and ran until he ran into the wall of what seemed to be a small house. Before losing total consciousness, he remembered the cackle of his most trusted advisor as he handed Aden the map that showed where Aden's honeymoon would take place. 


	2. Chapter One

Note: Hi! In this chapter you meet Adriana aka Adie. She takes after me, only because I know how I would react to certain situations though. Hope you like her!  
  
Disclaimer - Ella Enchanted doesn't belong to me  
  
To Melt the Ice By DyingFlames  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"Pa! You better come see this!" Adie called to her father. The boy laying below her had a streak of red across his forehead and was covered in blood from head to toe. Adie jumped off the low roof of her house, still yelling for her father. She hitched up her brothers too-large breeches and sauntered toward the person.  
  
She knelt next to the person. Gently shaking the man, the sailor's daughter murmured, "Hey, are you okay?"  
  
"Leave me alone." the person moaned below.  
  
"What?" she asked in disbelief.  
  
"Leave me alone."  
  
"Are you saying that I jumped off a roof to sit here and watch you die? Well you got another thing coming boy." The man simply groaned again. Adie looked up to see her father stalking towards them. Without question Adie's father lifted the injured man, carried him into the house, and laid him on Adie's bed, which always served as the "guest" bed when it was needed. "Oh, Pa?" began Adie, "before you leave, here's your and Peter's dinner." she finished, handing him two sacks, one with Pa wrote on it and the other labeled with her brother's name.  
  
Adie turned to the visitor. "Okay, sir. If you are well enough to tell me what to do, answer me some questions."  
  
"May I clean up first?" he was sitting up now and didn't look at all sick, except for the blood.  
  
Adie smiled and said, "No you may not, you have to. MY house is starting to smell like a butcher's shop."  
  
Without responding the mystery man stood and walked out the door. Adie watched him walk off with mixed feelings. Dying curiosity forced her to want to know more about this man, but common sense was pulling her away, positive she didn't want to know. * ~ ! ~ *  
  
Aden walked out of the house and looked around in search of a lake. That girl should have left me to die. He thought coldly. It would have been better than living. The cry of a seagull caused him to look up. The was a whole flock swarming overhead. If he looked to his left there was a busy dock. The air smelled strongly of fish and salt. Did I really come this far, all the way to the ocean? he asked himself. He spotted a pond about one fourth of a mile off. He set out with much purpose.  
  
Feeling the cold water wash over him as he dived in sent all gruesome thoughts from his head. Unfortunately, this oblivious paradise of no thoughts or worries lasted only a couple minutes before thoughts and shivers set in. Just staying in long enough to become reasonably clean, Aden climbed reluctantly back into his blood-stained breeches and tunic.  
  
He set out towards the cabin, hoping in spite of his rudeness, that they would give him food and shelter for a few days. He found his rescuer stirring something in a pot over the fire. Without looking up she said, "There are fresh clothes on the table, go change in that room over there, then come back out to talk. I have some questions for you."  
  
Without comment once again he took the clothes and did as he was instructed. The girl told him to sit and thrust a bowl of soup into his hands. "Eat while I find some bandages for your head." Aden finished the hot soup quickly and had set the bowl aside when the girl came back. She simply smiled, cleaned the gash on his forehead, and wrapped it in gauze.  
  
A smile again on her face, the sailor's daughter said, "Okay, now first things first. My name is Adie. And your name is?"  
  
The royal automatically responded, "Aden."  
  
"I see, and my second question is, are you going to go swimming with me, or are you going to stay here."  
  
Aden was shocked. "Um, okay." He said cautiously.  
  
Adie flashed a new grin showing her set of white teeth. "Okay, you can wear this." she said handing him a pair of breeches that had been cut off at the knee. "I am going to go change." she jogged into the next room and left him standing there, aghast. This girl was so strange. One minute she's telling you you're going to be questioned, the next you're going swimming. This girl was strange indeed.  
  
Note - Hi! There is the first chapter. Please review, flames are all right too, and I have no idea when the next chapter will be put up. 


	3. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: Ella Enchanted, all its characters, all its everything, does not belong to me. I also got a couple ideas from the book Wings of the Morning, by Lori Wick. The joke at the end, is not mine, but at the moment I don't remember the comedian's name. However, all characters you have not been introduced to until the beginning of this story belong to me. So, do all the places. Please contact me first if you wish to use my characters, or whatever. Therefore, I can read your story! J  
  
To Melt the Ice by Dying Flames  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Before Aden's thoughts were able to wander much farther, Adie emerged with two thick blankets. She wore a short-sleeved tunic and breeches, except hers were cut above the knee.  
  
Tossing Aden one of the blankets, she asked, "Want to change here or where we're going?"  
  
Not quite sure where they were going would have a dressing room, Aden hastily said, "Here." He stalked into the bedroom she had just come out of to change.  
  
Five minutes later, he came out wearing the makeshift swimming clothes.  
  
With a chuckle Adie said, "Took you long enough, I was beginning to think you might be dead."  
  
What Aden said next took all the laughter out of Adie's eyes. "I should be."  
  
Since there was nothing else to say, "Hum." Was how Adie responded. "Let me check your head before we go." She carefully cut away the bandages she had placed on his forehead about two hours ago. "Much better. Come on, let's go. I found a very distressed stallion as I was picking apples today. Perhaps he's yours."  
  
"Wait, how did you heal my head so fast?"  
  
"The bandages are made by fairies." She said matter of factly.  
  
She led him to a black horse. "Eli." Aden murmured.  
  
Adie whistled through her teeth. A stallion galloped towards her. The beautiful horse had a chestnut coat and mane with glints of red and gold here and there. Adie slipped on easily as she was accustomed to riding bareback, where as Aden took just a bit longer with his saddle.  
  
"Hyah!" cried Adie and they were off, Aden following her closely. The wind was riding through Adie's hair and she became oblivious to the fact that Aden was with her.  
  
*~!~*  
  
Before Adie knew it, they were at the dock. Aden called, "Adie! Wait up!"  
  
She stopped and did as she was asked. Amazingly enough, the pair did not make for out of the ordinary. All girls visible on the dock had tanned dark skin and a sprinkling of freckles. Adie chestnut hair was in a long braid down her back and most girls had opted for the simple garments that she wore. Though Aden was not as tan as Adie, there were so many work boys on the wharf that he was not noticed. "Hurry up!" Called Adie over the din of the mob. The salty air engulfed her, making her somewhat light headed and giddy. She wound her way through the crowd to her father's ship, The Wind catcher.  
  
"Ahoy Adie!" Jarek, Adie's favorite crewmember called.  
  
"Hi Jarek!" She called happily back. She had known the whole crew her whole life. She was born on a ship and sailed with her father until she was 16 years old. Then Peter got this strange idea in his head that she should stay home and find herself a husband. Her attitude on that matter was, "yeah, like that will ever happen."  
  
As Adie and Aden dismounted and tied their horses up, Jarek walked up to them and asked, "Who've ya brought wif ya Adie?"  
  
"This is Aden." She turned to Aden, "How far do you live from here? Depending on where you live, I could probably convince my father to sail you there." She smiled. "This way, I could have an excuse to go sailing again."  
  
"I live in Kyrria."  
  
Adie's eyes widened. "That's a three month's sail from here. Oh well, no matter." With that, she disappeared below deck.  
  
Aden looked around. All the ship hands were at least forty years old, and they were all looking at him strangely.  
  
"What?" he nearly yelled in frustration that he couldn't read the looks on their faces.  
  
"Name's Aden, eh? Live in Kyrria? Must be hard to live where the prince lives and have the same name." Jarek said, revealing to Aden that they knew his identity. "I suggest you tell Adie soon lad," he continued. "You've got something coming if you hurt her." Before Aden had a chance to reply, Adie emerged with a triumphant smile.  
  
"Pa says that our next destination is the Porcelain Islands," Adie said, naming her favorite tropical paradise. "Then, we head straight for Kyrria. For now, though, hoist the anchor and move to deeper waters."  
  
"Are those Cap'ns orders?" Asked one of the men.  
  
"As long as I am on this ship they are." She said with a dignified authority so amusing that laughter erupted from the whole ship. Even Aden had to smile.  
  
"What are you waiting for? Do as I said." Adie commanded. The sailors rushed to do her bidding. Aden had no idea what to do. Then Jarek tossed him a rope, "Make yourself useful lad, we need these sails up, so pull."  
  
Adie watched, entertained by how Jarek was forcing Aden to work. For a few minutes she watched Aden struggle, then walked up to him and said in clear frustration, "Like this." She grabbed some of the rope in front of Aden and pulled, dropping the slack behind her. In no time, the sails were up. "There's not much left to do." Adie said, "But, a bit of advice, don't let them get to you, and leave that guy," pointing towards a sailor now carving something out of wood, "alone while he's carving. Lest all Hell break loose." She ran off and started climbing the rigging with skill only the daughter of ship's captain would have.  
  
*~!~*  
  
Half an hour later Adie's voice was heard over the roaring of the waves. "Lower anchor! This is where we will be swimming today!" She was climbing down from the top of the rigging, which had served as her look out post. Five feet from the bottom Jarek took her by the waist and swung her down the rest of the way. Beginning an old game of theirs, he didn't let go. In a low growl Jarek said, "I've got ya now lass, now tell me where ye father's treasure is hidden."  
  
"Never will I betray my father's trust. I will die before I tell you!" Adie called back, fake horror all over her face.  
  
"So be it! Time to walk the plank, fair maiden. 'Tis a pity we must lose such a lovely face."  
  
In reply, Adie spit at Jarek's feet. Turning back to his normal voice. "Well now, you've just added that. Ya could've warned me. Now you're really going to walk the plank. Bring me a foil!" At once, another 'pirate' appeared with a sword. Jarek took Adie's arm and roughly shoved her onto, 'the plank'. He put the tip of his foil to her back and said, "walk lass."  
  
Adie slowly and dramatically began to walk, stopping now and then for drama purposes. At the end of the plank, she turned to Aden. "This is my favorite part." She turned back to the front and the foil in her back poked her harder. She took one last step forward, and with "Tally Hoe!" She jumped. Jarek turned to Aden, "Now sir, you may join the woman on your own, or by force. Either way you're going to sleep with the fishes."  
  
Aden, having a flare for the dramatic, said, "I die by my own hand and no other." He climbed onto the ledge of the ship and looked down, where Adie was watching him with interest. Aden prepared to dive when a hand came from nowhere and pushed him. He lost his balance and fell, making quite a scene on the way.  
  
Aden felt his body hit the water. It was cold (to state the obviousJ) but refreshing. He felt goosebumps rise across his arm. A splash to his left caused him to look Adie's way. She was beckoning to him. "Look at this Aden." She said handing him a sand dollar.  
  
The next two hours passed in this same way.  
  
Adie sadly told Aden, "It's time to go. Do you want to go up the ladder first, or should I?"  
  
"You go ahead and go first."  
  
Adie nodded in agreement and started up the ladder, a bag of seashells and other such treasures clicking against her thigh. She knelt wrapped in the blanket that served as a towel that she had brought with her as she waited for Aden, and spread out the items the two had foud floating around. For they had been in a natural rock formation. The rock was shaped like a bowl, and it was only about 13 feet in the deepst part.  
  
Aden finally reached the top of the ladder. Adie gave him his towel, and in an attempt to mak ehim laugh she said, "Look at all this stuff, isn't it great?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess so."  
  
"I have an even better seashell collection though." She soberly said. "I keep it scatered on all the beaches of the world. Maybe you've seen it."  
  
When Aden smiled and said, "You know, I think I have seen it. Isn't it the one that had this extrordinary conch shell?" Adie knew everything, for the time being, would be allright.  
  
From Me to You:  
  
How was it? I had to rewrite the whole chapter, that's why it took so long. Please review, flames are cool too, and I am new at this, so any suggestions are welcome. Please remember: I just write my thoughts, letting the story take twists and turns not originally in the plot. Then, I hope it doesn't it doesn't stink. (Too much J) 


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Ella Enchanted, all its characters, all its everything, does not belong to me. Uh, I did not invent the piskies, I got them from the book, I am Morgan le Fey, by Nancy Springer. So I just wanted to tell you, they are not pixies. However, all characters you have not been introduced to until the beginning of this story belong to me. So do all the unfamiliar places.  
  
A note: Okie-dokie, so I know I haven't worked out some of the details very well and you're going to have to remember Adie has no idea of what happened to Aden. Oh and I know this chapter is kind of crummy but please, please give me a break? I was in a hurry.  
  
Here we go -  
  
To Melt the Ice by DyingFlames  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Warmth greeted Adie as she stepped in the front door, shadows were seen scattering and giggles were heard throughout the house. When Adie saw a merry fire crackling in the fireplace, she smiled. The piskies had become active again. The little critters never ceased to amaze her. They could cause the most amazing mischief, but once humans were about, they easily vanished or scattered away.  
  
Adie walked to the cupboards, Aden right behind her. She was planning to find something to cook for dinner and turned to tell Aden to go away when an invisible hand came out of nowhere and swept under her feet. Then, just before she hit the ground, Aden caught one of her flailing arms and pulled her back up, much to the amusement of the creatures living in the house apparently, considering it erupted with laughter. "Hobbs!" Adie screamed at the top of her lungs once she was upright. "If you ever do that again I will have your neck!" A voice out of nowhere replied, "That's what you said last time." And the room erupted again with glee.  
  
Adie turned to Aden and saw a strange look on his face. "Hobbs is a piskie that lives in my room, or so he says." Adie explained, misinterpreting the look on Aden's face. Little did she know that no piskies lived in Kyrria. A powerful fairy had not found them amusing and had driven them out.  
  
Adie told Aden to make himself comfortable, because there was little else for him to do while she was cooking, as she began chopping carrots for a stew. Aden sat and watched, which was all he could do. Adie's hands chopped the carrots evenly, creating an even rhythm of metal hitting wood throughout the house. Aden watched as she chopped carrots and muttered to herself she better go get the chicken if she was going to have it dead, plucked, and somewhat boiled by she was finished chopping the massive amount of vegetables. The vegetables seemed to stand in mountains beside her, so much food for only two people.  
  
Aden became bored and stood. He walked to Adie and took a butcher knife beside her and asked, "which chicken would you like for the soup?"  
  
"Umm, just get one of the black hens." Adie replied with a surprised look on her face. Aden set out to do just that.  
  
In a matter of minutes, Aden appeared with a plucked body of a hen totally prepared to cook. He took the huge stewpot and found a pump outside. He filled the pot with water and heaved it back into the house, setting it over the still crackling fire. Adie stared as he took some of the chopped herbs beside her and place half of them in the water. The other half he took and put into a large bowl beside him. He began cutting the chicken into cubes.  
  
Aden then found he was under the scrutiny of Adie, "What? Haven't you ever seen someone chop chicken?" He said.  
  
Adie didn't answer, instead she smiled and went back to chopping the vegetables.  
  
Aden put what were now chicken cubes into the bowl, rolling them in the spices. He walked to the pot over the stove and put them in, wondering if they would need more chicken for the stew. Looking at all the other ingredients that would soon be in the stew, he decided there wouldn't be enough room for more chicken.  
  
"Hey Aden," Adie said. "Can you wash these onion bulbs then put them in with the chicken?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Aden took the small bag of onions and stepped out the door where the sun was in its final stages of setting. He walked to the pump and started cleaning the onions, the cool water flowing over his hands and splattering his tunic. His thoughts turned to Adie, "how interesting," he thought. "Receiving a stranger into her home, well, more like forcing." He smiled. "I didn't have much of a choice. Then, no questions asked, taking him swimming. She is quite different from my Jessica, I think." The last thought registered in his mind had come quickly, before he knew what he was thinking. Why on earth was he comparing his dead wife to this girl?  
  
He really hadn't known Jessica. He had met her on a ship to this place and there was a shipboard wedding. In fact, it had been only three or four weeks ago that they met. He was young and foolish, she was gorgeous and eager to be married. He had begun to fancy her, asked her to marry him, and that was that. There was still pain though, a dull heartache in his chest that he would either ignore by working, or ignore some other strange way.  
  
"Aden! Hurry up!" Called Adie.  
  
He turned at the sound of her voice, and sprinted up the hill to the house. Deciding that, for the time being, he would forget the terrible events of the past days, and enjoy the present moment.  
  
*~!~*  
  
"Cute," thought Adie as Aden ran up the hill and handed her the onions. "Too bad he's so, closed. He would be very easy to like if he just opened up." Adie decided as she headed towards the cauldron and dropped the bulb onions in.  
  
"You know," Adie said quietly, "You might want to make that bed you were on earlier. At the moment it's not exactly clean."  
  
"If I had known you would make me cook and make my own bed, I would've ran farther to the north and picked a wall to run into there."  
  
Adie smiled with her back still turned and said, "You volunteered to cook and the sheets are in the cupboard over there." She pointed with one hand and shoveled vegetables into the stew-pot with the other.  
  
She saw Aden walk over to the cupboards just as a small shadow glided near. The cupboard doors flew open in Aden's face, startling him so much he fell over. The house seemed to love to laugh because it again shook with giggles. Adie had to purse her lips together to keep from laughing as she walked over and helped him up.  
  
"You know," she said with a hint of laughter in her voice, "if you stay here, even for the shortest amount of time, you should probably stay alert and watch for shadows that don't belong to human."  
  
Aden was just about to defend himself when the door to the cabin slammed open. Both heads turned in time to see Adie's father say, "What's for supper? I'm starved."  
  
Note - Agh! It seems so short! One of the reviewers asked how long after Aden's wife's death was this. Well, I dunno, I guess around a week. But, as seen above, he barely knew her, so he isn't amazingly hurt by her death. Its like when an uncle you never knew you had dies, or when you just meet him and then they die. It hurts because they are still part of you, or because you never had time to learn what he was like. Well, I am so sorry it took so long to get this up, but I had writer's block. Hey it happens! 


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